About
Shekar is co-founder, managing partner, and growth coach at Upekkha, an early-stage AI fund and accelerator where he advises startups on financial discipline, investment strategy, enterprise sales, go-to-market, partnerships, compliance, and organizational scaling. His background includes roles at Xylan (which went public and was acquired by Alcatel for $3 billion), Allegro Networks, and NetApp, where he expanded India operations and built the Asia Pacific OEM business from zero to $30 million in revenue. He holds an M.S. in computer science, is a candidate for an M.S. in electrical engineering from CSUN, and holds a U.S. patent in data communications and networking.
Experience
- UpekkhaCo-founder, Coach, Managing Partnercurrent2017 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- Self-EmployedPartnercurrent2014 — presentBangalore
- K7 ComputingExecutive VP2013 — 2014
- Elina NetworksCEO2008 — 2011Bangalore, India
- NetAppPresident, General Manager NetApp India & APAC OEM Business2004 — 2008Bangalore, India
- Thomas Weisel PartnersEntrepreneur In Residence (EIR)2003 — 2004Menlo Park, California, USA
- Allegro NetworksCo-Founder, Director, V.P. Product Development2000 — 2003San Jose, California, USA
- Alcatel-Lucent EnterpriseTechnical Director, Manager, Principal Engineer1994 — 2000Calabasas, California, USA
- Ascom TimeplexSenior Software Engineer1990 — 1994Irvine, California, USA
- UnisysSoftware Engineer1989 — 1990Flemington, New Jersey, USA
- IntelSoft (a subsidiary of Intel in Chennai India)Systems Software Engineer1987 — 1989MEPZ, Chennai, India
Skills & more
Information TechnologyB2B softwareInternet ServicesStart-up EnvironmentLarge EnterpriseBusiness DevelopmentSales ManagementProduct DevelopmentCustomer ServiceLeadershipGeneral ManagementEnterprise Software
+3 more
Asia PacificUSAIndiaLanguages English · Hindi · Kannada · Malayalam · Tamil
From Shekar's professional profile.
Colleagues at Upekkha
Bhavya
Manager - Investments at Upekkha
Fahad
Head - Investor Relations & Seed Funding at Upekkha
Gokul
Partner at Upekkha
Jeyashrri. G
Virtual Assistant at Upekkha
Nisha
Associate, Accelerator Operations at Upekkha
Prasanna Krishnamoorthy
CEO and Co-founder, Upekkha at NSRCEL
Tanuka
Head, Program & Community at Upekkha
Thiyagarajan (Rajan)
Managing Partner at Upekkha
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Shekar?
- Shekar is co-founder, managing partner, and growth coach at Upekkha, an early-stage AI fund and accelerator where he advises startups on financial discipline, investment strategy, enterprise sales, go-to-market, partnerships, compliance, and organizational scaling. His background includes roles at Xylan (which went public and was acquired by Alcatel for $3 billion), Allegro Networks, and NetApp, where he expanded India operations and built the Asia Pacific OEM business from zero to $30 million in revenue. He holds an M.S. in computer science, is a candidate for an M.S. in electrical engineering from CSUN, and holds a U.S. patent in data communications and networking.
- Where does Shekar work?
- Shekar is Managing Partner at Upekkha.
- Where did Shekar go to school?
- Shekar studied at California State University, Northridge (M.S., Computer Science); California State University, Northridge (M.S. Candidate in Electrical and Electronics); Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (Certificate in Executive General Management (EGMP), General Management).
Same school
Also attended California State University, Northridge24
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Also attended Indian Institute of Management Bangalore77
Clément DelangueCo-founder & CEO of Hugging FaceMegha PrakashVenture Partner at Episode1Ashu GargInvestor at Foundation CapitalVinay SinghCo-Founder & Partner at Fireside Ventures Advisory LlpRahul MehtaCo-founder at DST GlobalNishit GargPartner, Asia at RTP Global
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Also attended National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli26
Prasanna SankarCo-founder of Rippling; founder of 0xPPLJob SimonVenture Partner and CTO at Monta Vista CapitalSuresh BalasubramanianInvestor at Storm VenturesNachi DasExperts | Global Market Expansion & Growth at 212Anil KurugantiPartner at GP BullhoundSwathi DhamodaranAssociate, Growth Equity at Trifecta Capital Advisors
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Shared employers
Also worked at Elina Networks1
Also worked at NetApp40
Job SimonVenture Partner and CTO at Monta Vista CapitalAditya ReddyVice President at Sapphire VenturesKamesh RaghavendraChief Product Officer at The HiveLucy MangasGo-To-Market at Roble VenturesCindy WorthingtonInvestor Relations Advisor at How Women InvestMoe KermaniManaging Partner at Vanedge Capital
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+ 34 more
Also worked at Thomas Weisel Partners23
Scott CutlerInvestor at EPIC VENTURESAmanda MaestriHead of Investor Relations at Reach CapitalEmily HerreraInvestor at VMG PartnersMatt EmeryPartner at JMI EquityRyan StroubCFO at Cowboy VenturesKent GoldmanFounder at Upside Partnership
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